It's been twelve years since Manchester United last lifted the FA Cup after rolling over a poor Millwall side 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium.

A double from Ruud van Nistelrooy and a header from a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo were enough to see the Reds lift their 11th FA Cup.

It came at the end of a Premier League season where United finished third behind Arsenal's Invincibles and Roman Abramovich's first Chelsea side, led by current Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri.

It was a time where finishing third was considered not good enough for United and it was their first of three consecutive seasons without a Premier League title.

Although it wasn't a vintage United side, with the likes of Giggs and Keane getting older, and Ronaldo and Fletcher still young and raw, was the team better than the current crop?

Goalkeeper

David de Gea takes this hands down. One of the biggest problems United had between 1999 and 2005 was the man between the sticks and although Tim Howard made the odd exceptional save, he never made the position his own. De Gea, on the other hand, has cemented himself as one of the best in the world over the past few seasons and would not only walk in to the 2004 cup winning team but would have also made them serious title contenders.

De Gea was delighted after Martial's winner

Right back

Another no brainer. Gary Neville is regarded as United's best ever right back by many, which means he gets in ahead of whoever Van Gaal goes with on Saturday.

Centre-backs

Although Rio Ferdinand was at United when the FA Cup final took place in 2004, he wasn't eligible due to missing a drugs test. The central defenders that Ferguson went with on the day were Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre. An injury plagued Englishman and a full-back sounds familiar. Chris Smalling has had a superb year so he'd get the nod over Silvestre to partner Brown at the heart of the defence, even if the Mancunian never did fulfil his potential. Blind has done OK at the back however he still struggles against any sort of power.

Brown clutches the Cup in 2004

Left back

John O'Shea started his United career looking like a potentially great full-back but soon became a utility man, whereas the current United team haven't had an obvious choice at left back since Luke Shaw broke his leg earlier in the season. Daley Blind is a superior left-back than Rojo and certainly more able there than O'Shea was after his breakthrough campaign.

Centre midfielders

Roy Keane gets in without a second thought. Although he was past his imperious best in 2004 he still embodied everything the current United side lacks and his Herculean effort in the semi-final at Villa Park was one of his finest latter day United displays.

Alongside him in the middle of the park in 2004 was a 20-year-old Darren Fletcher, who had his best years to come. Out of the midfielders available to United on Sunday, Ander Herrera would have perhaps got in earlier in the season but his form has seriously waned in recent months. Fellaini would never have featured in a Ferguson side, Schneiderlin hasn't played to his potential and Schweinsteiger is injured, which leaves Michael Carrick . Again, a player past his best but he probably nudges in ahead of Fletcher to make the team.

Shirts and suits celebrate United's last FA Cup win

Right wing

Cristiano Ronaldo or Jesse Lingard? A question that requires no answer.

Left wing

A genuine conundrum. Although the name Ryan Giggs would make most United teams of any era, was the 2004 Ryan Giggs better than the current Anthony Martial ? The Welshman was 30 as he walked out at his national stadium in 2004 and had started to lose his pace and reinvented himself as a central midfielder five years later. Martial, on the other hand, is lightning, breezes past defenders for fun and scored the winner in the semi-final. He can't go up front because Ruud van Nistelrooy was at the peak of his powers in 2004.

Martial is mobbed after his 93rd minute winner

Number ten

A fairly straightforward one. There's nothing more that can be said about Paul Scholes that hasn't been said before and in 2004 he scored the winner in the semi-final against Arsenal's invincibles to deny them a double. Rooney isn't the player he was and isn't on Scholes' level at playing off the front. The need to have the current captain in the side isn't necessary with Roy Keane being in the side. Juan Mata is probably a better number ten than Rooney but still doesn't push Scholes close.

Scholes celebrates in Cardiff

Striker

Van Nistelrooy is one of the greatest goalscorers in Premier League history. He averaged 30 goals a season in his five years at Old Trafford and it's a crime that he only lifted one Premier League title in his time at the club. Marcus Rashford has got off to a flying start but can't be compared to Van Nistelrooy just.

With Wayne Rooney no longer cutting it as a centre forward and Martial producing better form out wide it's a fairly simple choice to select van Nistelrooy as the main man up front.